How Mosquitoes Work

There are more than 2,700 species of mosquitoes in the world, and there are 13 mosquito genera (plural for "genus") that live in the United States. Of these genera, most mosquitoes belong to three:

Some mosquitoes, such as the cattail mosquito (Coquilettidia perturbans), are becoming more prevalent pests as humans invade their habitats.

Let's examine how mosquitoes live and breed.

Life Cycle and Breeding

Like all insects, mosquitoes hatch from eggs and go through several stages in their life cycle before becoming adults. The females lay their eggs in water, and the larva and pupa stages live entirely in water. When the pupa change into adults, they leave the water and become free-flying land insects. The life cycle of a mosquito can vary from one to several weeks depending upon the species (the adult, mated females of some species can survive the winter in cool, damp places until spring, when they will lay their eggs and die.)

We’ll look at the stages of mosquito development in the next section.

Egg

All mosquitoes lay eggs in water, which can include large bodies of water, standing water (like swimming pools) or areas of collected standing water (like tree holes or gutters). Females lay their eggs on the surface of the water, except for Aedes mosquitoes, which lay their eggs above water in protected areas that eventually flood. The eggs can be laid singly or as a group that forms a floating raft of mosquito eggs (see Mosquito Life Cycle for a picture of an egg raft). Most eggs can survive the winter and hatch in the spring.

Larva

The mosquito eggs hatch into larvae or "wigglers," which live at the surface of the water and breathe through an air tube or siphon. The larvae filter organic material through their mouth parts and grow to about 0.5 to 0.75 inches (1 to 2 cm) long; as they grow, they shed their skin (molt) several times. Mosquito larvae can swim and dive down from the surface when disturbed (see Mosquito Life Cycle for a Quicktime movie of free-swimming Asian tiger mosquito larvae). The larvae live anywhere from days to several weeks depending on the water temperature and mosquito species.

Pupa

After the fourth molt, mosquito larvae change into pupae, ­or "tumblers," which live in the water anywhere from one to four days depending on the water temperature and species. The pupae float at the surface and breathe through two small tubes (trumpets). Although they do not eat, pupae are quite active (see Mosquito Life Cycle for a Quicktime movie of free-swimming Asian tiger mosquito pupae). At the end of the pupal stage, the pupae encase themselves and transform into adult mosquitoes.

Adult

Inside the pupal case, the pupa transforms into an adult. The adult uses air pressure to break the pupal case open, crawls to a protected area and rests while its external skeleton hardens, spreading its wings out to dry. Once this is complete, it can fly away and live on the land.

One of the first things that adult mosquitoes do is seek a mate, mate and then feed. Male mosquitoes have short mouth parts and feed on plant nectar. In contrast, female mosquitoes have a long proboscis that they use to bite animals and humans and feed on their blood (the blood provides proteins that the females need to lay eggs). After they feed, females lay their eggs (they need a blood meal each time they lay eggs). Females continue this cycle and live anywhere from many days to weeks (longer over the winter); males usually live only a few days after mating. The life cycles of mosquitoes vary with the species and environmental conditions.

As mentioned before, only female mosquitoes bite. They are attracted by several things, including heat (infrared light), light, perspiration, body odor, lactic acid and carbon dioxide. The female lands on your skin and sticks her proboscis into you (the proboscis is very sharp and thin, so you may not feel it going in). Her saliva contains proteins (anticoagulants) that prevent your blood from clotting. She sucks your blood into her abdomen (about 5 microliters per serving for an Aedes aegypti mosquito).

If she is disturbed, she will fly away. Otherwise, she will remain until she has a full abdomen. If you were to cut the sensory nerve to her abdomen, she would keep sucking until she burst.

After she has bitten you, some saliva remains in the wound. The proteins from the saliva evoke an immune response from your body. The area swells (the bump around the bite area is called a wheal), and you itch, a response provoked by the saliva. Eventually, the swelling goes away, but the itch remains until your immune cells break down the saliva proteins.

To treat mosquito bites, you should wash them with mild soap and water. Try to avoid scratching the bite area, even though it itches. Some anti-itch medicines such as Calamine lotion or ­over-the-counter cortisone creams may relieve the itching. Typically, you do not need to seek medical attention (unless you feel dizzy or nauseated, which may indicate a severe allergic reaction to the bite).

Diseases

Mosquitoes can carry many types of diseases that are caused by bacteria, parasites or viruses. These diseases include:

We'll look at ways to reduce mosquito populations in the next section.

The best way to reduce mosquito-borne diseases is through mosquito control and personal protection. You can do a few things to reduce the number of mosquito bites that you get while enjoying the outdoors. First, wear clothing that covers most of your body, if temperatures permit. Second, use a mosquito repellent that contains NN-diethyl-meta-toluamide (DEET) at a concentration of 7.5 percent to 100 percent. Lower concentrations are sufficient for most outdoor protection, and a 15-percent concentration is recommended for children. Avon's original Skin-So-Soft is a weak, short-lasting (less than 20 minutes) mosquito repellent, although there are newer Skin-So-Soft formulations that include EPA-recognized insect repellents. Permethrin, an effective pesticide, is for use on clothing only (Never apply it to your skin, it is a neurotoxin!). To learn more about mosquito repellents, see the EPA's How to Use Insect Repellents Safely.

Beyond mosquito repellents and clothing, you can try to control the mosquito population. Mosquitoes need water to breed and will use any source of standing water.

So, to reduce the mosquito population, eliminate sources of standing water in your yard. Empty watering cans, remove old tires and cover rain barrels.

If you have a lily pond in your garden, stock it with some fish that will eat the mosquito larvae. Some petroleum oils can be added to water to form a thin surface layer that suffocates the mosquito eggs; however, many of these oils will also suffocate any fish living in the water.

To prevent mosquitoes from entering your home, make sure that all of your window screens are intact.

Finally, there are many commercial pesticides available to kill mosquito larvae and mosquito adults. Many communities conduct large-scale spraying of pesticides containing mallothione to control mosquito populations during the spring and summer, especially in attempts to reduce the spread of West Nile encephalitis. Another option is a device like a Mosquito Magnet, which lures and traps mosquitoes.

For more information on mosquitoes and what you can do about them, see the links on the next page.

Although small in size, mosquitoes have been around for over 30 million years. They have honed their hunting skills over that time and today use chemical, visual and heat sensors to locate their prey. They use their chemical sensors to detect carbon dioxide and lactic acid from up to 100 feet away. Certain chemicals in sweat can also trigger their sensors. Their visual sensors aren't very keen, but they can see you moving if you are wearing clothing that contrasts the background. They use their heat sensors to detect warm-blooded mammals and birds in their vicinity, so they can always locate humans when they are near enough to sense body heat.

There are approximately 2,700 species of mosquitoes with the majority belonging to 3 major genera: aedes (eggs are laid in floodwater areas), anopheles (eggs are laid in permanent fresh water) and culex (eggs are laid in quiet, standing water). In terms of development, all mosquitoes start as eggs and hatch into larva or "wigglers". As larva, mosquitoes molt several times until they become pupa or "tumblers". As pupa, mosquitoes mature and become adults and begin to mate and feed. After mating, most males die within a few days, whereas the females can live for many weeks, depending on the species of mosquito and the environmental conditions present.

Top 5 Mosquito Facts

Learn more about mosquitoes.

Learn more about mosquito bites.

Learn more about treating mosquito bites.

Learn more about diseases spread by mosquitoes.

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Learn more about mosquito repellants.­